Snubber



sep1.s, 1936.

E. G. GOODWIN Filed lMarch 5, 1931 SNUBBER l I I N VEN T OR 15.6. 600DW/N WM A RNE/V 5 sheets-sheet 1 Sept 8, 1936- E. G. GOODWIN 2,053,991

SNUBBER Filed March 5, 1951 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR. l5. 6. GW//V Patented sept. s, 1936" AUNITED STATES lsNUmsEn Ernest G. Goodwin, Pelham, N. Y., assignor to Standard Coupler Company, New YorkpN. Y., a, corporation of New Jersey Application March 5, 1931, serial No. 520,368

29 Claims.v

Thisl invention relates to snubbers and has for `and to eliminate entirely the accumulative rolling.

An important object of the invention is to provide for lateral motion of the bolster without in any way lesseningthe snubbing effect and this object is secured by providing a spring seat in one or more pieces between the'truck springs and the snubbing shoes. IncidentalY to the use of a single spring plate a feature of the invention is the provision of convex roller engaging faces in place of the usual plane faces which have been heretofore used.

A very important feature of the present invention is'the provision of liner retaining means especially the provision. of...f\means for preventing this channel-shaped member from spreading or separating its two anged ends which might cause it to come out of engagement with its retaining shoulders. Such construction eliminates the usual rivets which are quite unsatisfactory when they have countersunk heads as is customary in'this field.l l n A still further object of the present invention is the provision of supporting the bolster directly from the springs on `the .plank as well as indirectly supporting this same 'member by other springs which directly engage the snubbing shoes,A

' the result being that the shoes canhave the proper angle -and at the same time the bolster will have suiiicient metal and, more important still, can'have its full depth and consequently a considerably greater bending moment.

Other objects of the invention will be apparent Y from the following description and cover more particularly specific improvements in definite'v members such as the rollers and rockers and also the provision of mean's for 'eliminating the sud lden depression of one side of the truck springs gone ratherfully into the discussion o'f the tendency of railway cars to rock excessively whether they are loaded or not ann to the danger of such side to side rolling or rocking of the car becoming accumulative to a point where the, springs might (Cl. 10S-193) easily be brought solid with a consequent injury to the spring or to some other part of the truck, 4and in some respects the present applica-A tion may be considered as improving the device illustrated in my earlier application just mentioned, as for example, adapting the earlier device so that lateral motion may be included in view of the fact that a large number of our railroads now use devices of this type and it is therefore advisable .to provide snubbing action coupled with lateral motion mechanisms.

- In my earlier device I have shown the liner held tothe column of the sideframe or to the bolster by means of` rivets having countersunk heads altho I have also suggested in the earlier up and down movement of the liner. I find, however, in actual practice that the countersunk rivets-have a` life altogether too short and Athe rivets fail between their two heads. l In the p resent structure I have therefore substituted .for the rivets or holding means a continuous U-shaped shoulder at top and bottom and have prevented any spreading of the channel-shaped liner-by providing upper and lower lips' atA either side into which the liner may readily slide and have thus eliminated a need for the rivets altho I prefer to retain some sort of holding means, for example,A a loose bolt which keeps the liner in place when not frictionally engaged and also in' the emeri gency case where worn standardbolster is used in connection with the side frame illustrated.

' In the drawings:

showing a single roller, the other showing a.

plate is used in place of the. two separate plates illustrated in Figure 1. -f .Figure 6 is a vertical section taken on line Ali-l3 of Figure 1 to one side of the rocker elements primarily illustrating the tongue and groove arrangement between the` bolster and the shoe.

' Figure '7 is a top plan view of one of the shoes.

Figure 8 is a side4 elevation of the bolster end. Fig-ure 9-is a cross section taken longitudinally of the bolster on line 9-9 of Figure -8..

18 application the vuse of shoulde'rs for limiting-the side flange of the channel-shaped'liner. vWithout these lips I8 there is a tendency for thel Figure 10 is a view `similar to Figure 1 showing the preferred form of my invention as applied to the larger trucks.

Figure 11 is a view similar to Figure 2 but showing the truck of Figure 1,0.

Referring particularly to Figure 1, III is a truck side frame of usual design save that it is recessed on each of the two opposed vertical faces to form an upper shoulder Hand a lower shoulder-I2 between which is placed the replaceable wear plate Il commonly called the liner and which is held in place, when not engaged, by a bolt I passing thru a slotted hole I1 in the two walls of the column. The bolt is not actually necessary altho highly desirable lwhen a standard bolster issubstituted for the bolster hereinafter described, which will only be the case in emergencies, but

where a standard'bolster is used and is badly worn or otherwise does not llthe space from column to column some provision should be had for retaining the two liners in place.

Under `ordinary circumstances the liners are held in place most'eiectively by the two threesided shoulders particularly when lips like I8 are provided each of which engages a corner of the liner to straighten, .that is, for the two flange edges to work away from parallelism and this tendency is entirely overcome by the provision of the lips I8 which somewhat snugly engage the liners but notto such an-extent as to make it diillcult vto slide the channel-shaped liners in place or to remove them readily when worn. Except for details -later to be described as well as the lips and the shoulders, the side frame follows standard practice and may receive standard equipment.

The bolster ends, as in my previous device.v

have slopingfaces extending upwardly and outwardly from the center Aline and may directly engage the shoes with an outwardly wedgingv action but it is highly preferable that instead of direct frictional engagement there shall be a rolling engagement such -as is provided bythe rockers 2l which may be rollers as at 20* in Figure 3 or may be rocker blocks'as, at 2i)b in Figure 4. In either case the vertical longitudinal cross section of the rocker shall be as shown in Figure 1, the rod 20* being elliptical in transverse cross section while the rockers 2|)b may Veither be highly oblate spheroids or they may be i. blocks, square in horizontal crosssction and elliptical in both` longitudinal and transverse sections.

When' these rockers are rods no lateral-movement of the bolster is permitted but where they are biscuits, as in Figure 4, both 4functionsA are bolster is permitted the lateral movement of the while retaining all of advantages of the rocker rod which cams the shoes outward.

present, that is,

The truck spring units`22 are four in number as illustrated in the truck of Figures 1 to'7 and are six inr number in thetruck illustrated in 'Figures 10 and 11. Quite obviously the springs may engage either single-spring seats as in Figure l, the bolster itself, or any combination, for

example, in Figure a lateral pair ofspring units 22 engage each of the vtwo shoes while the central pairof springs 23 directly engage the spring plank; not shown, and the bolster.

Forthe s'ake of simplicity the deviceof Figures 10 'and 1,1 will now be considered as in these ngures I have purposely omitted the' lateral movement device which can readily be added as illustrated in Figures 3 and 4 but which naturally is not at all essential. The bolster has the usual top plate 25 and has two downwardly and inwardly directed lower plates 26, the angles being such that a substantially wide lower surface 21 4is provided which forms a springrseat for one or more spring units 23.

The lower sloping faces 28 may directly engage the parallel faces 29 on the s hoes but all the advantage of such construction is obtained without the accompanying disadvantages by grooving a small central portion of the shoe to form a plane surface 30 on which the rocker rods or biscuits 20 roll and in providing a concave surface 3I on the sloping lower faces of the bolster. The reinforcing rib .32 of the bolster is quite novel, rising normal to the surface 28 so that pressure to or from the rocker will be carried directly to the topV plate of the bolster in the 'line of stress or pressure. The rib 32 extends to theside bearing seat 33 and strengthens the bolster at this point as well.

The shoe 35 is shown in top plan view in Fig- .ure 7 and in side elevation and cross section in cal spring boss 39 to center the spring nest unit,

being .elliptical rather than circular because upon wear of the shoe'this member will -move out-l wardlytoward the liners whereas it is highly undesirable that the axis of the spring 22 shall follow. By having the boss elliptical this outward wear is taken care of without. any tendency to slope the axis of the spring.

Centrally and longitudinally of the shoe is a v tongue!!! interrupted at its middle by the groove' which provides the plane rocker engaging surface l'30 and corresponding to the tongue 40 is the groove 42 on the bolster bounded by downwardly extending ribs 43 which may at times' engage the tongue 40 to limit lateral movement of the bolster.

' The bolster automatically centers itself by virtue of the action of the rocker biscuits when they `are used'and by the normal action of the Barber rollers in the customary and well known manner. The tongue and groove arrangement is not essential as obviously the result can 'be obtained by engagement of the shoe with the portion 45, 45 and 55 of the bolster as well as by contact between the bolster, the shoe and the side frame, in spite of which, however, I nd the tongue and groove arrangement highly' desirable under certain circumstances. It also serves to retain the rockers 20.

vTheform of bolster illustrated in Figure 10 is particularly desirable in the case of the larger cars in which the distance from column to column is increased tov suchan extent that when the shoes are'desiged to reach out far enough while keeping the popervangle, the bolster is necessarily shortened in depth and for this'reason it is advantageous to preserve the angle of the shoe while shortening its column to columnlength thus permitting the bolster to engage some of the springs directly. By this construction the central l portion-v of the bolster is greatly strengthened for 4in all of the figures. Where I use two spring being the fun depth it has a. considerably greater bending moment thanif it should be necessary I. to reduce the depth to permit the shoeslto engage all of the springs.

In so constructing the device I iind it highly advisable to design the parts so that initially the spring receiving bottom fac'e of the shoe shall be Asomewhat apprecably lower than the parallel similarly acting face 21 of the bolster. It is quite natural that the shoes, as they become worn, will move upwardly as well as outwardly on' account.

of the inclination of the roller face and should we start with all of the spring engaging faces par- Iloaded --to a slightly greater extent than'the middle springs the loading will be entirely imi form after a considerable amount of wear and from this point on to replacement the loadingv o f the outer springs will be only a slight amount less than the center springs.

Referring particularly now to Figure 11, the side frame column 48 is provided'with an extended iiange 49 which comes into use only upon ,sudden starting or stopping of the car at which time this lug engages a stop lug 50 on the bolster to cheek the tendency of the bolster to move longitudinally of the -car with reference to the side' frames as, for example, in the case of a sudden application of the brakes, or by a sudden bumping backward of the car in front. In all'other similar devices with which I am familiar vany suchI movement ofthe bolster would depress the spring inthe direction of the movement continuing until the slack between the bolster and the engaging part is taken up. Since the slackincreases as the wear increases this tendency is objectionable and is limited by the provision of these two lugs which are not intended to contact except momentarily under the conditions loutlined and hence the wear on thetwo lugs is negligible.v

vReferring now particularly to side of'Figure 2, it will be noted that the side frame column 48 is snugly engaged onA all three sides by the liner I4 `but that there is a space 53 between the liner and the shoe andi there is likewise a space 54 between'the shoe and the inmovement on the rockers 'lllb if they are used..v

If the rods 20 are used-in place oi the biscuits 2Gb this clearance 54 is not needed. The clearance 53, however, is needed in each case where convenient the removal of the side frame.

the Barber rollers 44 are employed. The shortening of the rib 56 with respect to the rib 55 makes If the rib 55 were of the same extent as the inner rib 55 it would be necessary to tear the truck apart, requiring the removal of the spring plank. With the construction shown, however, the springs are removed, the shoes lowered and then the side frame can be drawn directly oi the journals.

In connection with the Barber rollers 44, each of which is a cylindrical rod seated in an elliptical cavity making the device self-centering, I prefer that these rollers remain cylindrical as shown the right hand*` shoe were at a higher level than the other. Cons equently to prevent undue wear or damage to the edges of the rollers I make one or both of f the roller engaging surfaces B3 convex which permits me to retain the cylindrical rollers; otherwise I would be forced to use rollers of elliptical, longitudinal -or axial, cross. section.

In Figure 4 the rocker biscuits, whether square or circular in plan, have the same function, that is, in addition to the normal action which is given by the roller rods 20- these biscuits with the Barber rollers 44 give a double lateral motion one portion of which is snubbed by the friction against the column while the other, that is, the bearing between the bolster and thel friction shoes, is not snubbed. However, vthe lateral movement of the bolster is increased over the amount which would be given by the rocker biscuits alone or by the lateral-movement-permitting rollers 44.

What I claim is:

l. In a device of, the character described, a frame, a bolster, a plurality of springs for supporting said bolster upon said frame, and means positioned between said bolster and some of said supporting springs for engaging the bolster. and slidingly engaging said frame for dampening vertical and lateralv movement of the bolster in the frame.

frame having two vertical faces, a shoe engaging,

each face, a bolster resting upon the two shoes, said bolster and shoes being relatively movable in responseto variation of pressure on the bolster, and means for allowing lateral movement of the bolster and the shoes with respect to the side frame.

3. A strut channel-shaped in cross section, connecting the tension and compression members of a side frame, an upper ledge or shoulder and-a lower ledge'or shoulder on the three sides of said strut adapted to snugly receive a channel-shaped liner, and lugs extending from said ledges at each end to receive the corner of said liner to prevent the spreading of the liner when in use.

4. The combination ofA a bolster member, a

frame receiving said bolster member, a shoe member frictionally engaging the frame and supporting the bolster member, means for facilitating lateral movement of the bolster member, and

means limiting relative lateral movement of the bolster member and the shoe member, said last mentioned means including a longitudinal groove in one of the members and a longitudinal tongue in the other of the members and fitting loosely in a bolster vto limit lateral movement of the bolster and also to limit movement of av roller on lthe roller face of the shoe.

6. A horizontal force cushioning member for 4 l Y t s,oss,oa1

usebetween`a bolster and a shoe, consisting of a biscuit shaped member elliptical in vertical 1ongitudinal section and also in vertical transverse section.

7. In combination, a bolster and a shoe each having rocker receiving sloping faces and rockers engaging said faces with rolling contact, said rockers being elliptical.. in longitudinal cross section.

8. The device of claim 'I in which the rocker va bolster supported upon one or more of said springs and indirectly supported thru the shoes upon the other springs.

l0. In a snubbing device, a side frame, a pair of shoes each engaging said side frame with frictional contact, a truck spring beneath each shoe, a bolster above said shoes and having a central portion extending between the shoes, a vtruclr spring directly engaging the central ,portion of the bolster, and means between the bolster and each shoe for urging the shoe outwardly against the side frame as the bolster moves down to compress the springs.

ll. In a device of the characterdescribed. a side frame having a pair of channel-shaped struts, a pair of shoes each frictionally engaging the web of the channel of the column and loosely engaging the sides of the column, a bolster resting upon the shoes, said shoes tending to move with respect to the bolster in response to varying vertical forces on the bolster and shoes, a spring seat below each shoeandA snugly engaging the column on both web and side flanges and rollers between the spring seats and the shoes.

l2. In a device of the character described, a side frame, a pair-of shoes each engaging a column of the side frame, a bolster resting upon the shoes,a spring seat below the shoesand engaging both columns, rollers between the spring seat and the shoes, the roller engaged face of each shoe being convex in longitudinal section thru the axis of the roller whereby to avoid damage to the end of the rolleras one shoe moves with respect to the other. i

13. In a device of thecharacter described, a side'framehaving two columns channel-shaped in horizontal section, a bolster, truck springs supporting the bolster between the columns of the .side frame, stop lugs on the bolster and on the columns adapted to contact when the bolster moves longitudinally of the side frames as in the case of sudden application of brakes or jerksreceived thru the coupler, said lugs being out of contact with each other in normal operation of the car.

14. In combination, a bolster and a bolster shoe having opposed slanting faces, an elongated body between and having rolling engagement with said faces, each face having a' smooth surface which is engaged by the body, and interlocking ribs rising from said opposed faces and normal to the axis of said body, some of said ribs being located to engage the lower side of said body for positioning the same during the assembling together of the bolster, bolster shoe and body.

15. In combination, a pair of truck spring seats, a shoe upon each seat and having a vertical friction face and a sloping upper face, a bolster end upon the two shoes and having two sloping faces parallel respectively to the adjacent upper faces of the shoes, and rolling bodies between the bolster and the shoes and between the shoe and the seats.

16. In a snubbing device, a side frame having opposed vertical faces. a pair of vertically movable shoes each engaging the respective face, a plurality of springs. a bolster supported from one or more of said springs, said shoes being supported by the other springs and partly supporting the bolster.

1'1. In a snubbing device, a side frame having substantially parallel faces, a pair of shoes each engaging one of said faces with sliding frictional contact, a'` plurality of springs having their axes substantially vertical, a bolster supported by one, or more of said springs and additionally supported' thru said shoes, upon the other springs,

said bolster and shoes having relative movement to provide compensation for slight non-parallelism between said faces and thereby to avoid undue increase or decrease in pressure of said sliding frictional contact with vertical movement of the bolster.

18. In a snubbing device,la side frame having parallel opposed friction faces, a pair of shoes each slidingly engaging one of said faces with friction contact, a plurality of supporting springs, a bolster supported directly from one or more of said springs and indirectly supported thru the shoes upon the other springs, said shoes being movable vertically with the bolster and also being movable horizontally 'with respect to the bolster, such horizontal movement of the shoes providing compensation for the wearing away of the parallel friction faces and the shoes during service and also permitting the increase and decrease of the friction contact with the increase and decrease of load on the bolster. y

19. In a snubbing device, a side frame having opposed vertical friction faces, a pair of shoes each having a vertical portion engaging one of said vertical faces and also having a sloping side, a plurality of supportingsprings, a bolster supported from one or more of said springs; said shoes being supportedby the other springs and partly supporting the bolster, and members each having a curved face engaging said bolster and resting upon the sloping side of the adjacent shoe.

20. In'a snubbing device, a side frame having friction faces, a snubbing shoe frictionally engaging one of said faces, a bolster, and a. plural-- ity of springs carried by the side frame, one or more of said springs supporting the bolster end from beneath .and others of said springs supporting the shoe from beneath and through the shoe indirectly supporting the bolster.

2l. In a device'of the character described. a side frame having two vertical faces, a shoe engaging each face, bolster springs, snubbing springs, a bolster supported by all of said springs for vertical movement in said frame, means between said bolster and the snubbing springs for transforming vertical forces acting on said bolster into diagonal and horizontal components, said horizontal components being in a direction to thrust the shoes against said faces, and said shoes being movable on said faces in proportion tothe vertical movement of the bolster whereby snubbing occurs 'in proportion to the vertical displacement of the bolster. v

22. In combination, a bolster member and a shoe member having opposed, slanting faces, an elongated rolling body between said members.. .each of said faces having a smooth surface which surfaces are engaged by the rolling body, and interlocking ribs rising from said opposed faces -and normal to the axis oi said rollingbody for l operation.

23. In a car truck, side frames having bolster openings, a bolster structure having ends disposed within said bolster openings, bolster springs supporting the ends of said bolster struc" ture from said side frames, pairs o! contacting members interposed between said bolster structure and portions of said side frames, one member oi each of said pairs being a wedge member, eachend of said bolster structure resting on one member of each pair and springs interposedvbetween the wedge member of each pair and portions of said side frames, said last mentioned springs urging said wedge members into tighter wedging relation as said bolster springs are increasingly compressed. f

24. In a car truck, side frames having bolster openings, a truck bolstervstructure having ends disposed within said openings, bolster sprlrms supporting the ends i said bolster structure from said side frames, relatively movable innerfand outer contacting members interposed between the ends of said bolster structure and portions of said side frame, said bolster structure resting on and movable with respect to said inner members and vertically disposed springs between said outer members and other portions of said side frames,

said outer members being wedges, said last mentioned springs urging said wedges into tighter wedging relation as said bolster springs are increasingly compressed.

' 25. In a car truck, side frames having bolster openings, a truck bolster structure having ends disposed within said openings, bolster springs supporting the ends of said bolster structure from said side frames, said side framesv having surfaces spaced irom the sides oi the ends of said bolster structure, relatively movable inner and outer contacting members interposed between' said bolster and said spaced surfaces, said inner members being movable on the bolster, said outer members being wedges," said side vframes having spring supports below said wedges, and springs 4 resting on said spring supports and bearing at theirvupper ends against said wedges.

26. In a device of the character described, a side frame having two snubbing faces, a bolster end spring supported for vertical movement between said faoes, vertical movement dampening means comprising a shoe frictionally engaging one ol said faces and wedging means separately spring supported between the shoe andthe bolster,

'end for urging said shoe against the proximate face and simultaneously urging the'bolster end toward the other face.

27. In combination, a side frame having spaced columns, a bolster having an end vertically and horizontally movable between the columns,` spring means carried by the side frame and supporting said end of the bolster, and a snubbing device cooperating with the columns to dampen the vertical movement. of the bolster, said snubbing device including a lateral motionmechanism voperative to cause the device to dampen the lateral movement of the bolster. l

28. In combination, aside frame having spaced columns, a bolster having an end vertically and horizontally movable between the columns, a spring means carried by the sideframe and sup'- porting said end ci the bolster and a snubbing device cooperating with the columns and springs to dampen the vertical movement of the bolster, said snubbing device including lateral motionmechof a side frame, an upper ledge orshoulder and l the three sides ot a lower ledge or shoulder on receive a channelsaid strut adapted to' snugly shaped liner, lugs extending overlie portions bf the margin of said liner and securing means passing thru the strut and liner and cooperating with said mgs to prevent the spreading of the liner when in use. y

ERNEST G. Goonwm.

40' lfrom said ledges to 

